Waaaay back in 94/95 I picked up a CD that would change my musical direction for years to come. Hordanes Land is, of course, the split between two then-fledgling Black Metal tyrants: Emperor and Enslaved. At that time I thought all Black Metal should sound like Cradle of Filth, so imagine my shock when I […]
Willowtip went on a bit of a tear last year with the likes of Patristic, Unmerciful, Ominous Ruin, Dessiderium, Ulcerate, Defeated Sanity, and Dormant Ordeal, one of my top albums of the year. They have followed it up with a decent 2026 with Sallow Moth, Eximperitus, but it hasn’t quite been on the same level […]
Germany’s black metal band, Firtan return with their fifth full-length album Helios. I reviewed their third album, Marter, in 2022 and raved about the band and record. The newest member of the band is Lukas Massinger, who joined on guitar last year. The biggest step forward for Firtan, on this release, is the band moving […]
This is sort of a big deal for me. I’m getting to review the new album from USBM stalwarts Wolves in the Throne Room called Estuary. I’ve reviewed some heavy-duty emotional albums recently from Enterré Vivant, Green Carnation, and Mother of Graves, and those have done a pretty good job of pulling the old heartstrings […]
Ireland’s Zealot Cult is back with album #2, Psalms of Filth. It’s been 8 years since the debut Spiritual Sickness. Jobs, families, personal health are all reasons for the delay in putting out a new album and are most of the reasons when a band takes a bit of time off. In this case, the […]
“Change is inevitable, and the disruption it causes often brings both inconvenience and opportunity.” – Robert Scoble I looked for all sorts of quotes about change when preparing to write this review. From Benjamin Disraeli to Heraclitus, but eventually settled on tech guru Robert Scoble, as the addition of inconvenience and opportunity seemed pretty apt […]
The Netherlands’ Written in Blood will be of interest to God Dethroned fans, as it features their former bassist and backing vocalist, Bert Hoving, who served in the band for their first few releases (he’s aided by a few other Dutch death/black metal veterans). Also, Henri Sattler produced this, the band’s second EP in 2026, […]
I love some triumphant, medieval melodic black metal; Véhémence, Ascète, Hanternoz, Moisson Livide, Passéisme, Abduction, Atronos, Grylle, Sühnopfer, etc. And it’s usually on France’s Antiq Records, or sometimes Germany’s Purity Through Fire. So how about a new French project from members of the above bands that’s on Antiq Records? Hardiesse (‘boldness, bravery’) is a duo […]
Florida’s doom and gloom Wharflurch return with their second album Mycodeath and Rebirth in the Outer Clusters. Interestingly enough, on the same day they released this, they released Wharflurch Presents… Swamp Synth, which would be considered a third album. However, that is a synth-only album in which vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Myk Colby did an all-synth release based […]
I have covered Denmark’s lumbering death metal friends Dawn Of Demise, a bunch at this here website: from their debut in 2008, through the Lacerated EP i in 2009, to A Force Unstoppable in 2010, their last for Deepsend Records (RIP). They moved to Unique Leader for Rejoice in Vengeance (2012) and The Suffering (2016), […]
The last time I reviewed Mother of Graves was their The Periapt of Absence album from 2024. That album made it onto my Year End List and cemented my admiration for these purveyors of all things Doom/Death Metal. Well, here I am on a rainy day, and I am here to testify that The Light […]
Master has returned with their 16th album, Among the Seeds of Death. That’s a lot of albums, and I reviewed their last album from 2024, Saints Dispelled. That was definitely a fun and classic-sounding Master album, but on Among the Seeds of Death, mastermind Paul Speckmann has upped the ante even more. Alex Nejezchleba returns […]
Oh boy. This is wild and definitely one of the most unique releases of the year I’ve heard, if not the last few years. “Peasant metal”? “Medieval Avant-Metal”? “Hovel-core”? I’m not sure what to call this: the brainchild of David Monks from the 2000s Canadian indie rock band Tokyo Police Club, here under the guise […]
Infibulate Records is a brand-new record label, and label owner Sarah contacted our illustrious Editor-in-Chief, Erik, recently about their first signing, Mousecunt, and their debut album, Orgasmic Mouse. Sarah follows our site and made complimentary remarks about me and my writing style, so I had to review this. I weighed in on the email mentioning […]
Enterré Vivant came under my radar with the release of 悪罪 (Akuzaï) last year, and I covered it in these hallowed pages. Hopefully at least one of you went out and bought it because it is a fantastic record that drips emotion. Kurogoku doesn’t pull any punches in that department; they take what is left […]
I grabbed this promo because the Gurkhas were this revered, ghost-like unit of the British Army, where I spent a little time. If you want to read the history of this unique military entry of Nepalese badasses (now the Royal Gurkha Rifles) , check it out here. Here, Gurkkhas (with an extra K?) is a […]
I picked this EP out of curiosity. The fact that it’s short and from a band I’ve never heard of is important, but the bottom line is: HPGD aren’t known for releasing shitty albums. I was in the mood for some crazy cool Grind with Slam and Death Metal elements. There’s even some Black Metal […]
Despite being their third album, 2024’s Death Devil Magick was my first introduction to these robed and corpse-painted German deities, and I was fairly impressed. It was a bit of an outlier on AOP Records’ mostly more shoegazy and atmospheric black metal stable, being a more traditional black metal style. And on album number 4, […]
Russia’s Gravegod are back with album number two, Sermon Under Mound. Their debut in 2022, Promised Graveland, was a decent debut. Combining elements of early Morbid Angel and Brutality, there is a certain Floridian old-school death metal sound to them, from the swamps of Tampa. The band stays intact with this album, with Anatoly on […]
Canadian Black Metal can take many forms (notably the band Blasphemy), but the other day I picked up this promo for a band called Endspace, and I have to say this is an Industrial Black Metal horror show. First Contact is the name of the album, and this creepy bastard is making my Sci-fi horror […]
Crown Magnetar is becoming one of the most consistent deathcore bands around. With 3 albums, including this one, and 2 EPs since 2021, they have consistently delivered some of the most brutal, straightforward deathcore around, coming very, very close to elite, big four status. And The Hollowing of Godflesh does nothing to change that. The Hollowing […]
Hands up if you remember Finland’s Fall of the Leafe? Boy, I sure do. My first exposure was 2002’s Fermina, a transitional album that saw the band move away from the melodic death/black metal of their first two efforts (Evanescent, Everfading in 1998, and August Wernicke in 1999) into more progressive, gothic pastures. Fermina introduced […]
My admiration for Power Metal knows no boundaries. You know this by now, constant reader. So when I saw the promo for Valkyrie’s Fire I knew I had to hear it. Straight away I’m over here thinking these guys are European… they’re not. They hail from the hub of all things American Power Metal: Nashville, […]
Here is the self-released debut album from Chicagoan purveyors of sludge/doom metal, Shrineburner. It’s a damn solid debut, though hardly a game-changer, but it will scratch the itch for fans of Conan, Ufomammut, Usnea, Armed for Apocalypse, etc as well as the recent Fane record, and fellow Chicagoans, Minsk and Lair of the Minotaur, and […]
All trilogies must end. But when that trilogy is one as massive as Green Carnation’s A Dark Poem, the ending is bittersweet, indeed. Few bands have been able to capture the depths of human loss and the downfall of humanity to a blind technology and suffering as they have, and as the third installment is […]